Friday, September 22, 2017

RENE MAGRITTE EXHIBITION AND MORWELL

Selfie in mirror at the gallery.

I saw an excellent exhibition on Blood at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne on Tuesday. I particularly appreciated the performance (video projection) of May the Horse Live in Me, which raises (or re-raises) the question of our close relationships with not-human others.

Yesterday I took the two hour train ride to Morwell to see the Rene Magritte exhibition The Revealing Image: Photos and Films at the LaTrobe Regional Gallery. The exhibition reveals Magritte's process, the influence of the camera and in particular early film-making, which he experimented with, alongside his humour and his desire to challenge our notions of perception. It was fun afterwards being in the Kids room and taking a selfie with the bowler hats and other objects familiar to some of Magritte's paintings because the gallery did not permit photographs of any of the works because they were held in private collections. It was interesting seeing this exhibition, since it will not be shown at any other gallery in Australia before its tour to Asia, America and Europe.

After the exhibition I walked half-way down Hazelwood Avenue and took a photograph of the de-commissioned Hazelwood Power Station. I'd already taken photographs of the Yallourn Power Station and the Great Dividing Range through the window of the train for she appeared to be the dominant backdrop for the last fifteen minutes the journey. I believe most of the undulating misty hills in the distance was the Strezelecki Ranges, which is rather beautiful. I walked about five minutes from the gallery to see the Rose Garden, but unfortunately at this time of the year the roses are not in bloom. I had lunch at the gallery bistro and then walked around the main street and then back to the railway station. I considered extending my trip to Traralgon but the weather was becoming increasingly hot and I was dressed for the 6C degree temperature that morning as I stood on the incredibly cold and windy Richmond Station. I caught the 2.25 pm train that had been travelling from Bairnsdale and was at Flinders Street station just after 4.30. I was curious about the diesel engine that looked rather old and was informed that it was commissioned in the 1980s, but obviously still running strong.

For part of my train trip I was talking to an eighteen year old German tourist who had been in Australia for five weeks and was travelling to Adelaide. She was fascinated by our road system as she looked out the window. My limited contribution to the discussion on roads was that I could say autobahn with a reasonable German accent. We discussed without too much depth Angela Merkel's fight against the Far Right, the rise of White Supremitism and an Alernative for Deutschland. This young, female tourist, although according to her, not political, believes that Merkel's gender works against her. We both applauded Mekel's humanitarian response to refugees. All in all I had an engaging conversation. I had a lovely day and am already considering my next VLine trip (I'll add some photos another day and also some photographs of my drawings of the You Yangs...)